33K in student loans, about 11k on plastic (wedding/honeymoon/school), plus houseMy experience in real estate is limited to spending time with my grandfather growing up.He had several rental houses and would always be working on them.As I grew up and paid more attention to the business side of his work I realized that he was working just to stay busy and not working to create more income.His end goal was always to create more income but he was always distracted by the job of remodeling and updating.He has been my mentor and main father figure for years but now it is time I “upgrade” to someone capable of guiding me in the direction I want to go.I will always love my grandfather but his business sense is not one I need to follow.My goals in real estate are to create a “four hour work week” (gotta love the Tim Ferriss way of life) by a combination of buy and hold and flips.I hope to use this method to create a stable business and then move into apartment complexes.After lurking on this site I have learned about the different rules needed to ensure profit out of each.In my farm area there are many MLS deals that fall into these numbers.Now it is just about raising funds.I would love to find some Sub2 deals.Famous FourFavorite real estate book Never read one.Bigger Pockets Favorite business book Poke the Box by Seth Godin, 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, and No More Mondays by Dan Miller Hobbies include working on cars and spending time with friends and family.These are very important to me and I do not get enough time with my desk job with either.What is thing that sets apart successful investors from those that fail Getting back up on the horse after failing and not letting friends and family tell you that being an investor is a stupid idea.

@Arlan Potter I lived in Enid a short time and went to St Joseph Catholic School.

We put together a search in suburbs on the north side of Cincinnati primarily in 3 good school districts - Lakota, Mason & Sycamore.  

I was contemplating doing a masters in real estate at a school here in New York.  

This gives me a lot of free time in the summer and winter for when kids are out of school and the holidays.We have flipped houses in both NJ and PA starting back in 2002 but have not flipped a house since 2008.

Jamie, Everyone has their own real estate portfolio goals and you have to figure out what strategy works best for you.Currently, I have one B type SFR property in a C type neighborhoodone B type SFR property in a B neighborhood, and I have 5 A type SFR properties in an A neighborhood where the schools are all rated 10/10/10 and were all acquired brand new in the last 5 years. 

My 3 bedroom 2.5 bathroom 1650 sqft house cost me $165k in number 3 neighborhood number 2 schooling May 2013.

After visiting my brother, who lives in a good neighborhood in a very good school district, I found that there's a rental property across the street that's been a nuisance.  

More about me if you want to give advice: I am a teacher at a private school (investing will hopefully subsidize my love of teaching) in the Denver metro area.

I am considering going after a condo, decent price near decent schools.